How are new media and technology affecting our society? In
this article published by the Washington
Post, a New York University professor of media studies explains why he has
banned the use of technology in the classroom.
As we can see from this article, new media and internet
communication have greatly altered both our attention span and interpersonal
communication.
There seems to be a constant struggle between our attention
span and the internet. New media has made it possible for people to be
connected at all times. Smartphones have email, social media, and other communication
functionalities. At any given moment, we can pull out our phones and watch
videos, talk, search the web, and completely miss what’s happening around us. New
media has also helped foster the age of instant gratification. The internet
makes information and communication so fast and easy, that we are no longer
willing to wait. If we are not interested in something, the internet makes it
very easy for us to find something that we will find entertaining. In this article,
we see slightly bored and disinterested students using technology to “escape”
the classroom. Technology continues to get smarter and faster. Eventually, what
will happen to our attention span? Now, a ten second loading screen feels like
an eternity, imagine how we will feel about waiting times as technology continues
to get faster.
Another interesting concept this article brings up, is the
relation between the internet and communication. New media and technology have
certainly improved the speed of communication. Now with the help of the
internet, I can contact people across the globe at the blink of an eye. There is
so much to see and learn, and the internet makes it all available at our
fingertips. While all these things can be positive, is new media putting too
much in the palm of our hands? Are people too connected? It certainly seems
that way. Using new technology, people can easily zone out of a situation. New
technology provides us with so many distractions, that it is difficult to stay
focused.
We must be careful how we use technology. New media and technology
are certainly positive things! However, they can become negative. As new technology
continues to connect us, we must ensure that we do not become too connected
with the technology. We must not spend all our time buried in new media, or we
will miss out on what’s happening now.
